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Leslie County, Kentucky
Leslie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,310. Its county seat is Hyden. Leslie is a prohibition or dry county. History Leslie County was founded in 1878. It was named for Preston H. Leslie, Governor of Kentucky (1871-1875). The Hurricane Creek mine disaster in a Leslie County coal mine in 1970 killed 38 people.http://www.kyenc.org/entry/l/LESLI02.html Richard Nixon made his first public appearance after resigning the presidency at the Leslie County dedication of a recreation facility named for him. County Judge-Executive C. Allen Muncy claimed the Nixon invitation prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain indictments of him and his associates on vote-fraud charges; while on appeal for his conviction, he won renomination in the Republican primary but lost the 1981 general election to independent Kermit Keen."The Big Lever," Appalshop Inc., 1982 Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. Adjacent counties *Perry County (northeast) *Harlan County (southeast) *Bell County (southwest) *Clay County (west) Demographics |align-fn=center |footnote=U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013 }} As of the census of 2000, there were 12,401 people, 4,885 households, and 3,668 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 5,502 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.18% White, 0.07% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races; 0.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 4,885 households out of which 35.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were married couples living together, 12.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.90% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was spread out with 24.60% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $18,546, and the median income for a family was $22,225. Males had a median income of $28,708 versus $18,080 for females. The per capita income for the county was $10,429. About 30.20% of families and 32.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.80% of those under age 18 and 27.00% of those age 65 or over. Politics Leslie County is one of forty-four United States counties to have never voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate since its creation in 1878. In 1892Góelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election of 1892 and 1916Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1916 Presidential Election Statistics it was the most Republican county in the nation. Leslie’s fierce Unionist sympathies, so strong that areas surrounding it contributed more troops to the Union Army relative to population than any other part of the United States,Marshall, Anne E.; Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State, pp. 114-115 meant that between 1896 and 1928 no Democrat could receive even ten percent of the county’s vote,Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, p. 270 and none received so much as twenty percent until Lyndon Johnson flukishly managed over 47 percent in his landslide national triumph against Barry Goldwater in 1964. Despite Goldwater’s relatively poor performance, every Republican candidate since the county’s formation has obtained an absolute majority in Leslie County, and only William Howard Taft in the divided 1912 election, George Bush senior in 1992, and Bob Dole in 1996 have ever received under seventy percent for the GOP. Economy Coal companies in Leslie County *James River Coal CompanyJames River Coal Company – Blue Diamond complexJames River Coal Company – Bledsoe complex Infrastructure Transportation Public transportation is provided by LKLP Community Action Partnership with demand-response service and scheduled service from Hyden to Hazard. Communities *Hell for Certain *Hyden (county seat) *Middlefork *Stinnett *Wooton *Hoskinston *Smilax *Cutshin See also *Dry counties *National Register of Historic Places listings in Leslie County, Kentucky References Notes External links *The Kentucky Highlands Project *LeslieCounty.Net Oldest and largest site dealing with Leslie County Category:Counties of Kentucky Category:Leslie County, Kentucky Category:Dry counties of Kentucky Category:Counties of Appalachia Category:1878 establishments in Kentucky Category:Settlements established in 1878